Human dignity as a bar to bio-patentability in European Patent Law: An exposé and a novel reform paradigm
Date
2023-10-04Embargo Date
2025-10-02
Author
Walsh Fryer, Marianne
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Abstract
This research addresses a gap found in the literature which is that there is a lack of coherence about
the standard of the fundamental, but under-defined, concept of human dignity in European patent
law. This problem of uncertainty about the standard of human dignity is concerning because European
patent legislation mandates that it must be safeguarded in the patenting of biotechnology. Notably, a
substantial reason for this lack of coherence in adjudicating human dignity as a bar to bio-patentability
is fragmentation. Multiple parallel court regimes on the continent of Europe have competency to
decide cases that raise human dignity issues. Thus, this thesis tackles the pertinent but challenging
issue of arbitrating human dignity in bio-patent cases within and across the fragmented European
patent system. It seeks to find out whether a less fragmented decision-making structure can help to
develop a more coherent standard of human dignity as a bar to bio-patentability in European patent
law. It carries out a doctrinal study of the legislative instruments and case law at the European Patent
Office and the Court of Justice of the EU to identify the problem. It employs interdisciplinary methods
to critique past arbitration of human dignity in bio-patent cases. Also, it conducts an external inquiry
of the concept of human dignity to study how it is treated in philosophy, in bioethics and in other
courts. Ultimately, it makes a timely original contribution by proposing a reform paradigm that offers
a less fragmented decision-making process that can improve coherence in the adjudication of human
dignity in European patent law.
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